Syncthing vs Updog

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureSyncthingUpdog
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB32 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, bare-metalbinary
GitHub stars★ 87,439★ 3,386
First released20142019
ReplacesDropbox, Resilio SyncWeTransfer

Why pick each one

Choose Syncthing if…

  • No central server needed
  • Very private by design
  • Lightweight and reliable
Syncthing details

Choose Updog if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (3.4k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
Updog details

Frequently asked questions

Is Syncthing or Updog better?

Neither is universally better. Syncthing has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Syncthing and Updog free and open-source?

Yes. Syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Updog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Syncthing and Updog with Docker?

Syncthing: yes. Updog: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons